65 South Shore officers honored for Marathon bombing response

Friday

May 3, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 3, 2013 at 3:18 AM

This year, organizers of the Quincy District Court “Law Day” were compelled to expand the pool substantially of local officers recognized for bravery. Sixty-five officers from several South Shore departments were recognized Friday for the roles they played in the responding to the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt

Jack Encarnacao

Typically, the annual “Law Day” ceremony at Quincy District Court recognizes only a select few police officers for showing extreme bravery in responding to dangerous calls.

This year, event organizers were compelled to expand the pool substantially. Sixty-five officers from several South Shore departments were recognized Friday for their roles in responding to the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt.

“What has not been reported, or at least adequately reported, is the number of men and women from the South Shore communities who joined their brother and sister responders ... to seek out the perpetrators of the great violence that our cities endured,” said Judge Mark Coven, Quincy District Court’s presiding justice. “We thought it would be appropriate to recognize these people these people, and that is was appropriate to do at Law Day. Unlike the terrorists who would attack us, we are ruled by the laws of the Commonwealth and the United States.”

Patrolmen and superior officers from Braintree, Cohasset, Milton, Weymouth, Quincy, Holbrook, Randolph and the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Department played a part in the bombing response. Their duties included backup motorcycle patrol, coverage of hospitals, K-9 assistance, and sweeps of MBTA stations.

As is customary, Law Day also featured presentations of the Robert P. Dana Distinguished Service Award, an award named for a 29-year-old state trooper who was shot to death during a traffic stop in Milton in 1984.

This year’s recipients are:

Braintree officers Brian Adams, Robert China and Paul Campbell. The trio responded to an April call at a hotel, in which a disturbed guest was smashing holes in the walls of his room with chair in a purported search for candy. The guest threatened officers with a knife before he was pepper sprayed and arrested.

Braintree detective Joseph Molloy. Molloy chased a vehicle connected to a Weymouth bank robbery and coordinated the response of other area departments to intercept the vehicle. The response resulted in two men being arrested in Brockton.

Milton detective Louis Bullard. Bullard responded to a shooting in January, in which would-be assailants from Boston fired at a bystander near Union and Oak Streets who they mistook for their intended target. Bullard’s response and observations led to the arrest of four men and the recovery of three handguns.

Weymouth officers Scott Harrington and James Flanagan. Both responded to a domestic violence call in January, and spotted the suspect driving away from the scene. In the ensuing chase, Harrington’s cruiser was forced off the road into a tree, and the suspect’s car struck a telephone pole and bust into flames. Flanagan rushed to the suspect’s car to remove him and render aid. The suspect survived.

Randolph Det. Sgt. Anthony Marag, Det. Michael Tuitt, and Det. Jason Fisher. The trio make up the Randolph Police Youth Violence Unit, which police chief William Pace said credited for eradicating three youth gangs from the town and a declining crime rate the past three years.

Several others were honored Friday, including former state Attorney General Francis Bellotti, after whom Quincy District Court was recently named.

Bellotti celebrated his 90th birthday at the events, and was presented with a cake.

“The most criticized of all professions are the law and politics,” Bellotti told attendees who packed the main courtroom. “Yet without the decisions of judges and the enforcement of police, our democracy would not even exist.”

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Jack Encarnacao may be reached at jencarnacao@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @JackE_Ledger.